


Now's The Time

by just_another_classic



Category: Captain America (Comics)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 09:43:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19944091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_another_classic/pseuds/just_another_classic
Summary: When he kisses her, Steve tells Sharon that he is an optimist, because in that moment everything seems possible. (Captain America Vol. 5)





	Now's The Time

**Author's Note:**

> I'm continuing to write missing scenes from V. 5 of Captain America, because I'm reading it again and it is rife with content for fic. Feel free to leave in the comments if there are any missing scenes you want to see.

"So...You and Sharon, is it serious?"

"I don't know...we have a history and that complicates it. But I have to say, she seems more serious about it than I was expecting."

"Does that scare you?"

"No. It...It's just surprising. I keep expecting her to break it off."

"She won't. Not this time."

\-- Captain America Vol. 5 #20

* * *

When he kisses her, Steve tells Sharon that he is an optimist, because in that moment everything seems possible.

Bucky is alive, and if that is the case, anything can happen — including maybe resurrecting the long lost romance with the woman of his dreams.

So Steve keeps kissing her, doesn’t let go of her hand as they stumble like giddy teens back to his room, and allows himself to make love to her.

Bucky Barnes is alive and Sharon Carter is in his arms, and Steve Rogers thinks that this might be the best damn night of his life.

  
  


.

  
  


Back in New York, he is less of an optimist.

Rarely would anyone call Iowa a dreamland, but for a few short hours it had been nothing but a fantasy come to life. Away from it all, and despite the comforts of home, the harshness of the city reminds him that he and Sharon have done this song and dance many, many times before. 

How many times have they come so close to rekindling that flame between them only for it to flare out, for her to run and for him to be left behind wishing and wanting?

But then Sharon shows up at his door with two greasy bags from his favorite diner, and Steve is both confused and hopeful.

“Is this another SHIELD mission debrief?” Steve asks, because he wants to believe she’s here for something other than the work, but isn’t sure. He’s rarely sure about anything surrounding Sharon, except that he wants everything she is willing to give.

“I don’t know about SHIELD, but we can debrief later if you want,” Sharon replies, her eyes twinkling and her voice thick with innuendo, “but I thought dinner first.”

“If the lady insists.” 

He steps aside, allowing her into his home.

  
  


.

  
  


Whatever they are gives new meaning to the title “SHIELD liaison” Sharon does her job, keeping him on the loop of various missions that may be relevant to his interests and in turn, reporting on what she deems necessary for her bosses to know. But whatever information they trade is shared between long, heavy necking sessions or nights spent curled on the sofa watching movies.

“This is technically against the rules. I’ve read the SHIELD Employee Handbook,” he says even as he lifts her shirt over he shoulders. Her bra is red, and Steve can’t help but trace its lacy edges. 

“You wanna stop, Captain?” 

“No, it’s just—“ It’s just that he knows what her job means to her, knows that she wouldn’t risk her career for just a roll in the sack.

Sharon frames his face with her hands. “Hey, listen, I wanna be here, okay? Rules of no rules, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Then she kisses him all of his worries drift away.

  
  


.

  
  


There are similarities and differences in this go around compared to their first attempt at a relationship.

Sharon is still whip-smart. She challenges him in all the ways that matter, and she’s a damn effective partner to have in a gunfight. 

She’s never stopped being beautiful, even with the scars she’s picked up over the years. The first time he’d traced them with his tongue, she’d flinched. He’d then kissed them again prove they didn’t matter. She doesn’t last cuddle like she used to. She kisses harder, digs her nails in tighter into his back when he fucks her. She’s rougher around the edges than she used to be, but he finds he doesn’t mind. Not anymore. 

He fell in love with her a long time ago, before he even knew her name. Now few secrets lay between them. That has to count for something. 

  
  


.

  
  


Sam is the first one to learn about their relationship, and even then it is only by accident.

He arrives just as Sharon is leaving. Her hair is disheveled and she’s wearing Steve’s shirt —  _ “You’re lucky that wasn’t a favorite,” _ she had told after he’d gotten impatient and torn her top in two — and there is no denying what they had done earlier in the morning and the previous evening. 

Steve feels his cheeks burn as Sam’s gaze flits between both him and Sharon. Steve expects her to run, but instead Sharon only smiles, and gives Steve one last kiss on the cheek before departing, advising the two to “Have a nice bro date.”

“You gonna explain that?” Sam asks once she is out of earshot, his expression a perfect blend of smug and surprised. 

“If I knew how to explain it, I would.”

Sam sounds unconvinced when he asks, “You willing to tell me how long it’s been a thing?”

“A few weeks,” Steve replies, because there’s no point in lying. Besides, Sam is his friend and Steve hopes Sharon would understand.

“It serious?”

“I don’t know.”

Sam claps him on the shoulder. “It’s a good thing I came over then, because you are screwed.”

  
  


.

  
  


Sharon goes on a mission. She can’t tell him where and the reason, only that “No, we don’t need Captain America. Thanks for the offer.”

He misses her while she is gone, even when he is neck deep in business with the Avengers. It’s a reality of both their careers that circumstance will keep them away from one another for periods one end — one of the reasons he loves her is that is something she understands — but Steve still finds himself missing her when he crawls into bed. 

He wonders, not for the first time, if he is once again falling too hard and fast for her. They have changed too much to pick up right where they left off years ago, but if Steve is honest with himself, he’s never actually stopped loving her. 

When she returns, she brings with her a fair number of bruises. 

“I’ve had worse,” she says when he caresses the darkened skin, a frown on his face. “You know how these things can go.”

He does know how these things go, which is why he worries. But he learned long ago that he cannot tell her what to do, and he’d been a hypocrite if he even tried. So, instead he kisses her and coaxes her into a relaxing bubble bath. 

Sharon falls asleep within minutes, and Steve finds he doesn’t mind.

  
  


.

  
  


“What are we doing?” 

They’re in Sharon’s apartment, two plates full of dinner in front of them. It’s so terribly domestic, so achingly normal, that Steve finally finds the courage to ask her just what is going on between them. 

He finds some humor in that. Normally, he’s the one on the receiving end of that question, asked by the women caught in the middle of the war fought between his heart and his shield. But Sharon has always thrown him for a loop and challenged his definition of roles in a relationship, so why should this be any different?

She looks up at him, assessing. “We’re eating stir fry.”

“You know what I mean. What are  _ we _ doing? Us.”

Sharon smiles softly at him, and his heart relaxes. “I know things have changed since the forties, but I believe it’s called dating.”

“We’re dating?”

“Yes.” For the first time in a long while, Sharon appears worried. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I — yes,” he answers, dumbfounded at the ease of her answer. But because he remembers their history, the constant tug of war between them over the past few years, he pushes for more, “Is this something you want?”

She smirks. “You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” 

Sharon reaches across the table, and squeezes his hand. 

  
  


.

  
  


They go out to a bar with Sam. Sharon slides into a booth next to Steve, looping her arm through his with no regard for Sam watching across the table, trying and failing to hide his smile behind his beer.

“You two back together again, huh?” he finally asks. 

Sharon turns to look at Steve and smiles. God, she’s beautiful. “Looks like it.”

Steve’s still a little bit in awe that she’s willing to be so open with the two of them, not only in front of friends but also the world.

He hopes it never changes. 

  
  
  



End file.
